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INTO HIS MARVELLOUS LIGHT. Studies in Life 
and Belief. 2d Thousand. Crown 8vo, ^1.50. 

DOES GOD SEND TROUBLE? An Earnest Effort 
to Discern between Christian Tradition and Chris- 
tian Truth. 4th Thousand. Crown 8vo, $1.00. 

THE CHILDREN, THE CHURCH, AND THE 
COMMUNION. i6mo, 75 cents. 

HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY, 
Boston and New York. 



THE CHILDREN, THE CHURCH, 
AND THE COMMUNION 



TWO SIMPLE MESSAGES TO CHILDREN, 
FROM ONE WHO LOVES THEM AND WHO 
WANTS THEM TO LOVE THE HOUSE 
OF GOD AND THE TABLE OF CHRIST 




BOSTON AND NEW YORK 
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY 

1895 




Copyright, 1895, 
By CHARLES CUTHBERT HALL. 

All rights reserved. 




The Riverside Press ^ Cambridge, Mass, , U.S. A, 
Electrotyped and Printed by H. O. Houghton & Co. 



TO 

K. B. E. 

AND 

OTHER DEAR CHILDREN 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 



TN memory of the Children's Service on 
^ Sunday eventide, which for many 
years has been a part of our Church life, 
and in hope of helping some young hearts 
to learn more of the joy of worship, these 
two sermons, selected from many, are 
printed as they were preached. No apology 
is made for their simplicity, nor for the 
things in them which suggest the church 
in which they were spoken. The loving 
desire goes with them that they may carry, 
clearly enough for children to understand, 
encouragement for those who are, and for 
those who want to be, the younger disci- 
ples of the Lord Jesus. 
Brooklyn, Easter, 1895. 



gLESSED LORD, Who hast caused all 
Holy Scriptures to be written for our learn- 
ing, grant that we may in such wise hear them, 
read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them ; 
that, by patience and comfort of Thy Holy 
Word we may embrace and ever hold fast the 
blessed hope of everlasting life ; which Thou 
hast given us in our Saviour, Jesus Christ. 
Amen, 

J BELIEVE in God the Father Almighty, 
Maker of heaven and earth ; and in Jesus 
Christ, His Only Son our Lord ; Who was con- 
ceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin 
Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was cruci- 
fied, dead, and buried ; He descended into hell, 
the third day He rose again from the dead ; 
He ascended into heaven and sitteth on the 
right hand of God the Father Almighty ; from 
thence He shall come to judge the quick and 
the dead. 

I believe in the Holy Ghost ; the Holy 
Catholic Church ; the Communion of Saints ; 
the Forgiveness of sins ; the Resurrection of 
the body ; and the Life everlasting. Amen, 



J 'VE found a Friend ; O such a Friend ! 

He loved me ere I knew Him, 
He drew me with the cords of love, 
And thus He bound me to Him; 
And round my heart still closely twine 
Those ties which nought can sever. 
For I am His, and He is mine. 
Forever and forever. 

I 've found a Friend ; O such a Friend ! 
He bled. He died to save me ; 
And not alone the gift of life, 
But His Own Self He gave me. 
Nought that I have my own I call, 
I hold it for the Giver, 
My heart, my strength, my life, my all 
Are His, and His forever. 

I 've found a Friend j O such a Friend ! 
So kind and true and tender, 
So wise a Counsellor and Guide, 
So mighty a Defender. 
From Him, Who loves me now so well. 
What power my soul can sever ? 
Shall life, or death, or earth, or hell ? 
No ! I am His forever. 



THE CHILD IN GOD'S SANCTUARY. 



"PRAISE GOD IN HIS SANCTUARY." 



Psalm cl. i. 



HE time has come, dear children, for 



me to speak forth to you the special 
message which, I truly believe, God gives 
me to give to you. Suppose your father 
were off somewhere on a journey, let us 
say England ; and from England he writes 
you, and the postman calls at your door 
with the letter. The postman is just the 
messenger between your father and you. 
The postman simply gives you the mes- 
sage which has been handed him to hand 
you. The postman did not make up the 
letter. Your father made it up, and the 
postman delivered it. I feel often, when I 
speak to you in the Children's Service, like 
the postman delivering a letter. It does 
not seem as if it were my word I were giv- 
ing you, but the word of your Father Who 




12 Praise God in His Sanctuary. 

is in Heaven, a message from Him to you, 
simply delivered by me as His messenger. 
I feel very much so this afternoon, for the 
message which I have to give you is import- 
ant, and has much to do with the strength 
and happiness of your life. I know you 
will listen to every word, both for my sake, 
your earthly friend, and much more for the 
sake of that greater, unseen Friend, " Who 
loved you ere you knew Him/' 

We are here together in the building 
which we have learned to call ^'our 
Church/' This roof, these walls, these 
windows, and the furniture here gathered, 
the pulpit, the great organ (which is to 
many of us like a living friend), the font, 
the communion table, go to make up a 
place which is different from all other 
places to which we go. We have many 
places to which we can go. We have our 
own houses and the houses of our friends ; 
we have hotels, we have stores, we have 
schools, we have places of amusement and 
places of instruction, libraries, picture 



Praise God in His Sanctuary, 13 

galleries, museums. But this place, where 
we are now gathered, is not like any of 
the others. This is a place that stands by 
itself. A certain sacred blending of light 
and shadow is here. Even the sunlight, 
streaming in here at noon, seems more 
calm than other sunlight, and when the 
evening shadows lengthen here, as they 
are lengthening now, they bring with them 
upon our hearts stillness and thoughtful- 
ness and peace. It is a dear, happy place ; 
not sad and gloomy, but happy with a hap- 
piness that seems to make us better. We 
never think of laughing here, as we laugh 
at home, yet we are very happy often when 
we are here. 

We call this place, as you know, the 
House of God. That is another and a 
grander name for our church, — " The 
House of God.'' By this name we do not 
mean to say that God lives here and no- 
where else, as one of us has his house on 
one street, and another has his house on 
another street. But by this name we 



14 Praise God in His Sanctuary. 

always remind ourselves that we have 
specially given this place to God ; that we 
have set apart the ground on which this 
building stands, and the walls built upon 
this ground, and the furniture within these 
walls, the organ with its noble voice, the 
windows with their glorious colorings, — 
everything here, — we have set apart as a 
special gift to God, in the honor of God, to 
the glory of God, for the praise of God. 
And it is this great thought, with the asso- 
ciations springing from it, which makes 
this place seem different from any other 
place to which we go. 

But there is yet another thought about 
this place, this church, this House of God, 
which makes it dear and precious to many 
of us. You will see that my text says : 

Praise God in His Sanctuary!' " Sanctu- 
ary'' is only another name for Church, but 
it is such a fine, strong name, I must ex- 
plain it to you. Sanctuary'' means a sa- 
cred place of refuge and protection. It is 
a thought which every child can in a mo- 



Praise God in His Sanctuary. 

ment understand. I can tell the meaning 
of "sanctuary'' in such a way a child four 
years old can understand. Suppose such 
a little child is playing in the nursery, and 
somehow or other, as will happen even to 
a little child, she gets tired, and restless, 
and none of the things to play seems just 
the right thing, and there is a little more 
fretting, and baby is getting a little more 
unhappy, and suddenly, things get very 
bad indeed, for baby, being a little careless 
of what she does, has tripped and fallen, 
and hit her forehead on the carpet, and the 
carpet has made a mark on her poor little 
forehead. Not a very bad mark, but just 
enough to bring all the restlessness of the 
whole afternoon out at once in a great cry. 
And now what does baby want 1 She 
wants a " sanctuary." I do not mean by 
that that baby wants to go to church, but 
she wants a sanctuary ; and what did I say 
a sanctuary is 'i Did I not say a sanctuary 
is a place of refuge and protection t That 
is what baby wants : a place where she can 



1 6 Praise God in His Sanctuary. 

go and pour out all the crying restlessness 
in her little heart, and feel the strong, 
dear clasp of loving arms around her, 
and have her thoughts turned to bright 
and happy things, and be at rest once 
more. And where does baby find her 
sanctuary ? Does she need any one to 
tell her where it is ? No, indeed. God 
has long before told her little baby-nature 
where her sanctuary is, where her place 
of refuge is ; and baby spreads out her 
hands and runs weeping to mother's arms 
and hides her face on mother's shoulder, 
and soon the storm of restlessness is past ; 
new thoughts have come, and in the sanc- 
tuary of her mother's love baby has found 
what she needed. 

And as we grow older we see that every- 
body and everything needs a sanctuary-— 
a place of refuge. Think of those icy 
steamers out at sea, plunging through fear- 
ful waves swept by hurricanes. Whither 
were they going .'^ If each great panting 
steamer could speak to you each would say 



Praise God in His Sanctuary. ij 

the same thing, the brave Teutonic, the 
ice-freighted Circassia, the poor wandering 
Gascogne : ^ " We are trying to get to a 
sanctuary — a place of refuge from these 
roaring storms. We are making for the 
port of New York, for there we know we 
can get shelter and safety, and fresh coal 
and food, and a chance to repair damages 
ere we put out to sea again." And, chil- 
dren, you watch your father, as he comes 
home tired and cold night after night in 
these anxious times. See how his face 
brightens as he stands in the hall with you 
about him, and takes off his overcoat and 
comes in by the fire, and makes himself 
fresh for the bright dinner-table. See 
with what a look of pleasure he gathers 
you about him and lets you talk to him of 
what you have been doing. What is it } 
It is sanctuary.'' Home is your father's 

1 This sermon was preached in February, 1895, 
ing great storms at sea. In the following week the 
overdue French steamer La Gascogne reached New 
York, to the joy of every one. 



l8 Praise God in His Sanctuary. 

sanctuary, his place of daily refuge and 
protection. He feels safe and happy there 
with the trustful arms of children about 
him, with brighter thoughts pouring in 
upon his tired brain ; there, among you, 
he gains new strength for the battle that 
must begin again to-morrow morning. 

Now what the mother's arms are to the 
restless baby, what the harbor of New 
York is to the storm - beaten Teutonic, 
what the home and the fireside are to the 
tired man of business, that is the church 
meant to be for us all. A place of refuge 
and protection ; a Sanctuary of God, given 
us in His dear mercy, that we may use 
it and love it and find new thoughts 
and new hopes within it ; a place where 
we can get away for a little time from 
the things and people outside who tempt 
us to do wrong, where we can get a short 
and sweet relief from the drudgery of 
work, where we can take in a new, fresh 
supply of grand and beautiful thought, and 
where we can express the very noblest and 



Praise God in His Sanctuary, ig 

best that God Himself has taught us, by 
pouring out our hearts in praise. And so 
we all see the meaning of our text, " Praise 
God in His Sanctuary." It says : " Come 
to this House of God, come into these calm, 
sweet scenes, come into the atmosphere 
of worship, and get your life rested, re- 
freshed, purified, renewed in faith, in hope, 
in love. Come and give yourself joyously, 
earnestly, reverently, to what is going on 
here. Come, every one of you, and praise 
God in His Sanctuary." 

Now if I have made clear to you all what 
this place is for, as a House especially set 
apart for God, and as a Sanctuary, — a place 
of sacred refuge and protection for human 
lives where they may come and be lifted 
up into grander thoughts and nobler de- 
sires by praising God, — I wish to go on 
and speak, in the few moments which are 
left, about children coming to church. 

The church and the children are two 
things that belong together. The church 
cannot do without the children. The chil- 



20 Praise God in His Sanctuary. 

dren cannot do without the church. Sup- 
pose we try to imagine what would happen 
if the church were without the children 
and the children without the church. 

Fancy this church without any children. 
I am not talking now about the Sunday- 
school, which meets at another hour in an- 
other place. I am talking about this Sanc- 
tuary : this place where we are now gath- 
ered and where we meet to "praise God 
in His Sanctuary" every Sunday morning 
and every Sunday afternoon. I will sup- 
pose there are just as many children in the 
Sunday-school as ever there were ; but 
that none of them comes to church. They 
all go home after Sunday-school and never 
come back here even in the afternoon. 
Now I say, imagine this church without 
any children. What would happen } Well, 
the first thing to happen would be that I 
would think I ought to go away. The 
day the children stop coming to church 
I ought to stop, too. Some one else 
must be the minister of the church in 



Praise God in His Sanctmry. 21 

which there are no children. Now let us 
imagine it, and I thank God it is pretty 
difficult to imagine it with all these dear 
child-faces looking at me from the pews. 
But I will imagine it : the children all stay 
away ; they never come any more ; and 
some stranger asks the new minister, 
" Why do not the children come " and he 
says : Oh ! I am not sure that we want 
them. You know, children are restless and 
apt to make a noise and disturb the con- 
gregation. And then, beside, the church 
service is for men and women, grown per- 
sons, who can understand and appreciate 
what is going on. The church service 
is over the heads of the children. They 
cannot be supposed to understand it ; and 
there is nothing particularly to interest 
them. And then, you know, we have the 
Sunday-school for children : that is enough 
like church for them ; and so, for all these 
reasons (the new minister goes on to say), 
the children have all stopped coming to 
church. We never have any, any more/' 



22 Praise God in His Sanctuary. 

Alas ! for the church to which the chil- 
dren have stopped coming ! It may be a 
grand and beautiful place, with fine preach- 
ing and fine people. But a church without 
children is like a home without children : 
it lacks something from its life that no- 
thing else can supply. A home may be 
stately and magnificent with its great 
rooms full of paintings and statuary and 
books ; and the people who live in it may 
be sweet and loving and gentle ; and forth 
from that home may extend blessed influ- 
ences ; but nothing can give completeness 
to that home in the highest, tenderest sense 
of human completeness unless there is 
in that home the presence of a child, and 
the influence of a child. The presence of 
children in a home gives a certain glad- 
ness and freshness and hopefulness and 
courage which is their special ministry. I 
know what I am speaking of ; and you 
know that I know. When people grow up 
they get deeper and deeper in cares and 
see more and more of sorrows, other peo- 



Praise God in His Sanctuary, 2^ 

pie's sorrows if not their own, and nothing 
keeps one from growing old and sad at 
heart, or hard and bitter at heart, like hav- 
ing children for one's companions and for 
one's friends. Now this church is just 
like one great home made up of many sepa- 
rate homes : indeed a church is called in the 
New Testament an ^' household of faith." 
And our meeting together in this place is 
just the household coming together to praise 
God in His Sanctuary, and we need the in- 
fluence of children here in this common 
home as much as we need it in our sep- 
arate homes. This church without its 
children would be a dreary, sad, stiff, and 
haughty place : a place where the notes of 
praise could never be truly joyous, because 
lacking the fresh clear tones of a child's 
voice. Sometimes, as I stand in the pulpit 
listening to a great hymn that is being 
sung, I get such a thrill of joy, when quite 
through the great mass of harmony there 
reaches me some strain sung in the clear, 
fresh treble of a child's voice. When I 



24 Praise God in His Sanctuary. 

hear that it makes me as glad as if I were 
walking in the fields and heard among 
all the sounds of summer the music of a 
lark singing its way toward heaven. The 
church without the children ? God forbid ! 
It would be a failure. 

For how in the world could the church 
go on if the children gave up coming.^ 
You see what would happen : the grown 
people being the only ones left in the 
church would grow older and older, and 
sadder and sadder, without any children 
to brighten them up, and one by one the 
grown people would die, and leave empty 
places, for there would be no one to fill 
their places if the children stopped com- 
ing. Oh ! children, how our dear older 
friends in this church are passing away ! 
If there were no children growing up to 
take their places, in a few years this church 
would be empty. So you see the church 
cannot do without the children. Without 
you, my little friends, the church would 
be a failure. Perhaps this is a new idea. 



Praise God in His Sanctuary. 25 

Perhaps you never thought before that the 
church needs you. Well, realize it now, 
for it is a very grand thought. It shows 
you how important your lives are. And 
do not think that the only reason you are 
needed here is to fill up the empty places 
left by the older friends who go away to 
the other life ; you are needed here for 
what you are now. By coming to church 
you make every one happier, you strengthen 
and gladden the whole place and the whole 
service ; and as for him who is speaking 
these words to you, he could not go on 
without you. His courage would just give 
out altogether if he could not see your 
faces here and feel that you are growing 
up in the spirit of this place. I heard 
such a pretty story not long since about 
the dear Bishop Phillips Brooks. He went 
to a town for a certain great service, and 
he was to stay at a certain gentleman's 
house. And when he reached the house 
the gentleman and his wife were out. 
But the bishop went in. And when they 



26 Praise God in His Sanctuary. 

came home they could not find the bishop, 
and they said, "Where can the bishop 
have gone?'' and just then they heard 
shouts of laughter upstairs, so upstairs 
they went, to find — what do you think ? — 
the great bishop on the floor in the nur- 
sery having a wild frolic with the chil- 
dren, and the children thinking he was the 
best playmate they ever knew. Ah ! the 
bishop knew, great minister of God that he 
was, what gives courage to the tired heart 
of one of Christ's preachers, weary with 
trying to influence grown people who are 
set in their ways. The bishop knew the 
power children have to make one's heart 
young again and brave and full of hope. 
Yes, dear hearts, do not forget that the* 
church needs you. 

But what about yoti ? Do yoit^ need the 
church ? Do you need to come here even 
while you are little children, and all the 
way on through the days of your youth, to 
praise God in His Sanctuary ? Let the 
last word I shall speak to you to-day be 



Praise God in Hi's Sanctuary, 2y 

about this : and let me speak it right down 
into the depths of your life. You can no 
more do without the church than the 
church can do without you. I said a 
moment ago that a church without chil- 
dren is as incomplete as a home without 
children. I will now say what is just as 
true, that children who grow up without 
coming to church, if they are well enough 
to come, are as incomplete as children who 
grow up without a home. A child who 
has no home, who has just knocked about 
in the world, staying now here, now there, 
brought up by strangers, has lost from its 
life a most precious earthly influence, and 
most probably it has either been shut up 
within itself or its nature has opened out 
in bad ways. The fine, gentle sides of its 
nature have hardly been able to develop. 
The influence of a loving home would have 
made that child quite a different being. 
But what it loses in not having a home is 
not so great as what it loses by not coming 
to church to praise God in His Sanctuary. 



28 Praise God in His Sanctuary, 

It is here in the sweet calm Sanctuary 
of God, our Father's House on earth, we 
learn to worship and to praise, learn to 
open our natures to the Holy Spirit, as 
the ferns in springtime unroll their tender 
fronds in sunlight. It is here in the calm 
Sanctuary of God our souls find a refuge 
when the storms and struggles of life 
begin. But suppose as children we do 
not come to church : suppose we say, I 
will go to Sunday-school but not to 
church ; suppose we get in the habit of 
spending our Sundays at home, idly or 
foolishly — by so doing we are forming a 
habit which will slowly rise like a great 
wall of stone, higher and higher, to keep 
us away from the Sanctuary of our Father. 

Many times, dear children, I have spoken 
to you very earnest words ; but never have 
I spoken more earnestly than this very 
day. My whole heart is wrapped up in 
what I am saying. The church needs you 
and you need the church. This place is 
incomplete without you and you are in- 



Praise God in His Sanctuary. 29 

complete without this place. You have 
something in yourselves which you can 
give by coming, that adds to the strength 
and beauty of the church, and the church 
has something to give to you, which you 
cannot find anywhere else in the earth 
except in the Sanctuary of God. Come 
then, as children, more and more regularly, 
knowing your presence here is a joy and 
an inspiration. Come as boys and girls, 
as young men and young women, thinking 
of this place as a home, a refuge, a Sanctu- 
ary, where you can pour out your deepest 
thoughts into the answering heart of Jesus, 
where you can find a resting place in the 
hurry of life, where you can gain fresh 
strength to help you in your time of need. 
Amen. 



^LMIGHTY GOD, unto Whom all hearts 
be open, all desires known, and from Whom 
no secrets are hid, cleanse the thoughts of our 
hearts by the inspiration of Thy Holy Spirit, 
that we may perfectly love Thee and worthily 
magnify Thy Holy Name ; through Christ our 
Lord. Amen. 



THE CHILD AT THE HOLY COM- 
MUNION. 



THIS DO IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME. 



I Corinthians xi. 23. 



OR a long time, especially since last 



summer, I have greatly wanted a 
quiet talk with you about the Holy Com- 
munion. And the hour seems at last to 
have come for a talk about this subject, so 
great, so tender, so beautiful. I am con- 
scious of three reasons why I so much 
wish to speak about the Communion, or, 
as it is also called, the Sacrament of the 
Lord's Supper. My first reason is : be- 
cause I myself so love the service, it is a 
joy to speak of it. This is, perhaps, a self- 
ish reason, yet not wrong on that account. 
The Communion Service is, for me, a 
grand and wonderful hour, one of the most 
happy hours I ever spend. When it is 
drawing near, I look forward to it with 
eager anticipation, as to one of the gladdest 




^4 This do in Remembrance of Me. 

things of life. When it has passed by, I 
look back upon it as one of those dear 
memories which make our Hfe more rich 
and more complete, and which can never 
be taken away. When I am in the very 
midst of the hour, ministering at the Holy 
Table, I often think there is nothing no- 
bler or more beautiful for a man to do on 
earth. When I was a boy, I used to think 
the Communion was something very sad 
and gloomy. It seemed to me that it was 
mournful as a funeral service, and for a 
time I dreaded the thought of it. But that 
was only because I did not understand its 
meaning, and perhaps I did not understand 
very well those who took charge of the 
service in the church I attended. But that 
idea of sadness and gloom has long since 
passed away. And instead of thinking 
that to go to Communion is like walking 
down into some valley of shadow, silent 
and sad, I now think that it is like walking 
up in glorious afternoon light, upon a broad 
and sunny hill. Naturally, having such 



This do in Remembrance of Me. ^5 

love for the Communion, I want to speak 
of it. 

I have another reason for wishing to 
speak of the Communion : it is because 
so many in whose lives I am interested 
come to Communion. They know what it 
means ; and for many of them it has the 
same joy it has for me. During the last 
few years, many young lives have taken 
their places at the Communion, confessing 
Christ, and entering openly the life of dis- 
cipleship. And a great number of these 
are finding out what glorious influences 
there are in this Communion Service. All 
of these young lives will be glad to have 
our thought take this direction now, even 
though I speak of much with which they 
are already familiar. To those who love 
the Communion, the story of its origin and 
of its meaning is never wearisome. The 
more we think of its meaning, the more we 
meditate upon those sublime scenes amidst 
which it began, the more richly do we en- 
joy it, and receive the peculiar strength 



^6 This do in Remembrance of Me. 

which it is meant to give. Those to whom 
the Communion is a tiresome form are 
they who think Httle about it. Many are 
there who think much about it, and to 
whom, as a reward of that thinking, it is 
constantly growing richer and dearer. 

But I have one other reason, and the 
very strongest reason, for wishing to speak 
of the Communion to-day. It is for the 
sake of those children who do not under- 
stand what this Service is. They hear it 
spoken of : they have a vague idea of its 
nature. They know that their parents 
and many of their friends go to it ; per- 
haps some of their companions, of their 
own age, have lately begun to go to Com- 
munion. They feel there is something 
about it which is not clear to their under- 
standing, although they may have been 
present looking on, when the Communion 
Service has taken place, in the church. 
Among these dear young lives who do 
not yet understand this matter, there are 
many who want to understand it ; who 



This do in Remembrance of Me. 57 

feel there is something here which they 
ought to know about, because they see 
that it means so much to others. How 
truly I long, in this quiet talk about the 
Communion, to help those who want to 
understand it, to show them how closely 
the Communion is associated with Christ ; 
that Christ's own Hands have arranged 
this Service, and Christ's own Lips have 
told us what it shall be ; and that those 
who take part in this Service, if they come 
sincerely, place themselves under influ- 
ences which make life happier, stronger, 
more earnest, and more brave. 

Let us suppose a person to have come 
here this afternoon, who had never before 
in his life heard of the Communion, who 
had not the slightest idea what we mean 
by the word. He hears the notice given 
that there will be Communion here next 
Sunday; he hears what has just been said 
about the noble and happy nature of that 
service. His curiosity is aroused. He 
wants to know all about it. He comes to 



^8 This do in Remembrance of Me. 

me to be told about it. He begins to ask 
questions. It is easy to imagine the ques- 
tions he would ask. Let us ask them, and 
try to answer them. His first question 
would be : "What kind of a service is the 
Communion Service ? " Then he would 
ask : " Who gave you the idea of such a 
service " Then I presume he would ask : 
**Of what use is this service.'^ And then 
his last question might be : " Who may 
come to the Communion 1 

This person, who has never before in 
his life heard of the Communion, listens to 
all that has been said, and then we may 
imagine him coming to me and saying : 
"What kind of a service is the Commu- 
nion.?'' The best answer I could make 
to that question would be : Come next 
Sunday and see for yourself." He accepts 
my invitation and he comes. What does 
he see 1 He sees a great congrega- 
tion gathering silently and thoughtfully 
by scores, and fifties, and hundreds, until 
the church is almost filled. And here, set 



This do in Remembrance of Me, 59 

forth before the people, he sees a table, 
covered with a snow-white cloth. On the 
table are set cups of wine and plates of 
bread. A hymn is sung, the Bible is 
read, and earnest prayer for God's bless- 
ing is made. Then some young lives 
come and stand before the table in the 
presence of the congregation, and this is 
a Sign that each of those young lives 
has acknowledged Jesus as Saviour, and 
is willing that every one shall know it. 
Then, when some sweet words of Jesus 
have been repeated, these plates of bread 
and these cups of wine are lifted from the 
table, and are carried up and down the 
church, and every one is given the chance 
to eat a small morsel of bread and to 
taste a few drops of wine. Then after 
making gifts for the poor, and after sing- 
ing a joyful hymn, the people go away, 
greeting each other kindly as they go. If 
this person who had never heard before of 
the Communion were looking on at this 
strange scene, he might ask : Is the 



40 This do in Remembrance of Me. 

Communion Service always like this in 
all churches ? I would answer : No, not 
always so. There is always bread and 
always wine ; but there are many differ- 
ent ways of carrying on the Communion 
Service. I have described how it is done 
in this church, but it is done differently 
in many other churches. Once I received 
the Communion in a church where the 
people sat at a long table, as long as the 
church, and passed the bread and the 
wine from one to another as they sat. 
Often I have received the Communion in 
churches where those who wished to take 
the bread and wine left their seats, and 
came forward to the minister, and knelt 
at a railing in front of him, and received 
the bread and wine from his hands. Many 
times I have taken Communion in the sick 
room, where one person was lying in bed 
suffering, perhaps dying, and where the 
others sat or stood or knelt about the 
room, wherever they could find places. 
There are still other ways of which I have 



This do in Remembrance of Me. 41 

not spoken. But these differences do not 
alter the Communion : there is always the 
bread and the wine, always the stillness 
of prayer and earnest thought ; always, to 
some extent, the sweet sense of compan- 
ionship with friends who believe much 
that we believe, and who love much that 
we love. 

But now, suppose this friend who never 
before had heard of the Communion were 
to watch the service. His first question : 
" What kind of a service is it .^^ " would 
be answered by what he saw then and 
there taking place. But when he had 
watched it all, his next question would, I 
think, be even more eagerly asked than 
the first : " Who gave you the idea of such 
a service How strange to bring food 
into church and eat it there : people surely 
may eat what they need at home. Where 
did the idea of this service come from t 
It would be a sufficient answer to the 
question to say : Jesus Christ said, Do 
this in remembrance of Me." There are 



42 This do in Remembrance of Me, 

some things we do in church that we plan 
and arrange for ourselves, but the Com- 
munion Service is Christ's own planning. 
He started it with His own Hands and 
with His own Voice : and we, in carrying 
it on, are doing what He began, and what 
He has told us to continue. He began 
this Service the night before He died on 
the Cross. He got together His own 
dearest friends, and had a perfectly won- 
derful talk with them about what they 
were to do after He had risen from the 
dead, and had passed out of their sight. 
He said : Do not be troubled or anxious 
because you do not see Me. I shall come 
back again some time, so that you can see 
Me, and in the mean time the Blessed 
Holy Spirit will stay in your hearts all the 
time to make you strong and brave. He 
will show you that I am still with you, 
although you cannot see Me. I want to 
give you a Sign, something you can keep 
in remembrance of Me always, something 
which means much to Me, and will mean 



This do in Remembrance of Me, 4 j 

much to you as you grow to understand 
Me better. I want to give something so 
simple that all who believe on Me and 
love Me can have it wherever they are, 
and every time they look at it and use it, 
they will have their thoughts of Me made 
fresh and new, and they will have their 
own lives made glad and strong. I will 
choose as this Sign bread and wine : 
things that everybody knows about and 
everybody can get. Let the bread always 
mean to you. My Body, which I am going 
to give as an Offering for the sins of the 
world. Let the wine always mean to you 
My Blood, My very Life, which I am giv- 
ing for you, that you may have Its povv^er 
in yourselves, to make yotir lives new and 
fresh and strong. I give you this dear 
and simple Sign, in token of My love, in 
token that, although you cannot see Me 
always, I am always with you, that I will 
never leave you nor forsake you, that I 
will come again to you. Now, if you 
care for me, you will keep this Sign as a 



44 This do in Remembrance of Me. 

precious thing. You will love it. You 
will delight in setting it before your eyes, 
and taking it again and again and again, 
with the feeling that every time you take 
it, it is really coming straight from My 
Hands to you. And the joy you will have 
in using this Sign will be measured only 
by how much you really care for Me. If 
I am really the Master, the great Ruling 
Influence in your life, this Sign of Com- 
munion will become to you full of the 
most dear, inspiring associations, memo- 
ries and hopes. It will be a help, beyond 
words, in assisting you to keep a fresh, 
living sense of My love and My faithful- 
ness. Here then, I give you the Sign. 
Take this bread as I give it, take this 
wine as I bestow it. Let it mean to you 
what it means to Me. Let it be in your 
life a memory of what has been, an assur- 
ance of what is, a pledge and promise of 
what is yet to be. This do in remem- 
brance of Me." 

Oh ! you dear young hearts ! Is there 



This do in Remembrance of Me, 4^ 

not much in this that appeals to you ? 
You who have already claimed your place 
at the Communion, are you not glad that 
into your life this wondrous Sign is given 
of a love which has suffered for you in the 
bitter past, which hovers over you in the 
present with unspeakable joy and hope, 
which is planning for you in the future, such 
things as pass man's understanding ? Are 
you not glad that as earthly life with its 
many interests demands time and thought, 
and often covers you with clouds of care, 
you have this wondrous Sign of Communion 
within your reach, bringing so near to you 
the Saviour's affection, and giving you op- 
portunity to show your affection for Him ? 
And you, beloved children, who have not 
yet come into those places which are wait- 
ing for you at the Communion, do you 
catch, from what I have said, any of the 
joy that is in store for you ? This Sign is 
for you also. Jesus is looking upon you 
with His great love, and many of you are 
beginning to feel that He is looking on 



46 This do in Remembrance of Me, 

you, and you are turning yourselves with 
many new desires toward Him. Perhaps 
I am at this very moment speaking to some 
boy or to some girl who is filled with these 
new desires and thoughts, who hardly un- 
derstands what has taken place, who only 
knows that there is a yearning words can- 
not express to be a disciple of Christ. To 
you He is holding out this Blessed Sign ; 
and soon, ah ! very soon, may you take it 
and use it, and know the comfort of having 
it. 

But what I have just said leads me on to 
the next question which you remember we 
imagined the man to be asking who was 
looking upon the Communion Service for 
the first time in his life. We have an- 
swered his first question : " What is this 
service like ? And we have answered his 
second question : " Who gave you the idea 
of this service 1 Now, almost surely, his 
next question would be : " Of what use is 
this service ? To one who does not care 
for Christ, or wish to be like Him, I will 



nis do in Rememhrance of Me. 4y 

quite frankly say : To you there is no use 
in this service — it simply means nothing 
at all. You do not see anything in it. 
What use can there be in sitting in church, 
eating a morsel of bread, tasting a few 
drops of wine ? But is not that true in a 
great many ways } I may have some things 
which are very precious to me for the sake 
of the one who gave them, or of the event 
of which they remind me : while to another 
who does not know the friend who gave 
them, or the reason they were given, the 
things mean simply nothing. The Com- 
munion is precious and useful only to those 
who know the dear Lord Jesus, and under- 
stand why He gave us this Sign. It can 
hardly do any one good to come and simply 
eat bread and drink wine. There is no- 
thing in the bread and wine by themselves 
which can help us. They only help us 
when our thought connects them with Him 
Who has explained to us that of which 
they are a Sign. But to one who is drawn 
to the Communion by the love of Christ, 



48 This do in Remembrance of Me. 

help comes in many ways, and the use of 
the service is easily explained. 

The Communion is useful as an act of 
obedience. Jesus says plainly: "This do'' 
And you remember what the mother of 
Jesus said to the servants at the marriage 
in Galilee : " Whatsoever He saith unto 
you, do it,'' Even if the Communion had 
never brought any comfort or joy into any 
one's life, we might be perfectly sure that 
we need it, because Christ has told us to 
do it. I always think of this at the Com- 
munion : this is something Jesus tells me 
to do. I am obeying His own wise Word 
when I come to this table and eat what 
is thereon. And I feel sure that if one 
begins by coming as an act of obedience, 
doing this simply because He tells us to 
do it, we shall be made stronger and shall 
find out how much more it is than merely 
an act of obedience. 

The Communion is useful as an act of 
remembrance. This is a very sweet use. 
When we come to this srow-white table, 



This do in Remembrance of Me. 49 

and see the bread and wine upon it, when 
we take our place in the beautiful silence, 
and lift our voice in the beautiful hymn, 
when we taste the precious Sign, our mem- 
ory becomes full of Christ. We think 
back to the hour when His own Hands 
spread the feast, and His own Voice said, 
''Do it.'' And we can realize Christ in 
his pure and holy Person, as our Saviour, 
Master, Friend, King. We feel so strongly 
the effect of this strong and vivid remem- 
brance of Christ, it has seemed, sometimes, 
after such a service as if we had really 
looked upon Him with our eyes and spoken 
to Him. And as we go on into our daily 
life, that fresh memory follows us, and 
keeps long with us, and blesses us. 

The Communion is useful as an act of 
belief. When one who loves Jesus takes 
that Sign in the Spirit in which Christ 
gave that Sign our belief in the true reality 
and power of His Blessed Death is made 
stronger. He has told us what the Bread 
and Wine are ever to mean to us : the 



50 This do in Remembrance of Me. 

Bread His Body, the Wine His Blood, and 
when we come to His table, and take this 
Sign as if from His own Hand, oh ! how 
it strengthens us : the Holy Spirit seems 
to tone up all our thought and our life; 
peace is spread afresh over our hearts, 
earnest love warms them, holy thoughts 
take possession of them ; and we often 
come away from that dear table feeling as 
if Christ's very Arm was around us to hold 
us up and keep us safe. 

The Communion is useful as an act of 
loyalty. Before almost every Communion 
you will see some lives coming forward 
and taking their stand in front of this 
table, and gladly acknowledging Christ. 
And that is what the whole service is, for 
all who truly take part in it. We acknow- 
ledge that we trust Christ as our Saviour 
Who loved us and gave Himself for us, to 
redeem us by His most precious Blood. 
We say to the world by this glad act of 
Communion, that we beheve Jesus died for 
us, and that the true purpose of our heart 



This do in Remembrance of Me. 5/ 

is to serve with our life and strength this 
Blessed Master, until He comes again. 

The Communion is useful as an act of 
fellowship. There is no fellowship on earth 
more beautiful, more cheering, more able 
to keep the heart strong , and courageous, 
than the fellowship of those who have a 
common love for the Lord Jesus. That 
fellowship is a great bond, binding hearts 
to one another. Never is that fellowship 
more strongly felt than at the Commun- 
ion. Let discouraged hearts co^ne, and 
be cheered by the fellowship with other 
hearts. It is a fellowship not only with 
our friends whom we can see, but with 
unseen friends, some of them with Christ 
in Paradise. At His table we gaze be- 
yond the things we see." We realize that 
we are not in spirit separated from those 
precious ones who are with Him, and that 
because He lives, they live also. 

The last question is : Who may come 
to Communion t Any one may come to 
see this beautiful Service. I wish many 



52 This do in Remembrance of Me. 

of you would come, if only to under- 
stand better the meaning of it all by 
seeing and hearing. Come, and place 
yourself under the influence of the Com- 
munion hour, for it will help you as no 
other hour can help. Any one may take 
the Communion who loves Christ, who 
understands what the Communion means, 
and who is willing to acknowledge the 
Lord as Saviour and Master. Dearest 
child, will you bravely and sweetly ac- 
knowledge Him 1 Will you do this for 
your own sake, to make your life more 
free to grow up in His service Will 
you, above all, do this in remembrance of 
Him 1 Amen. 



^OW the light has gone away, 

Saviour, listen while I pray — 
Asking Thee to watch and keep, 
And to send me quiet sleep. 

Let my near and dear ones be 
Always near and dear to Thee : 

O bring me and all I love 
To Thy happy Home above. 

Thou, my best and kindest Friend, 
Thou wilt love me to the end ; 

Let me love Thee more and more 
Always better than before. 

Amen. 



Q HOLY SAVIOUR, the Friend and Com- 
panion of every child, grant that we who 
love Thee may so truly seek to do all things in 
remembrance of Thee; that our hearts shall 
be pure, our wills earnest, and our lives de- 
voted to Thy service, both now and in all days 
and years to come, for Thy dear Name's sake. 
Amen. 



J IGHTEN our darkness, we beseech Thee, 
O Lord, and by Thy great mercy defend 
us from all perils and dangers of this night, 
for the love of Thy Only Son, our Saviour 
Jesus Christ. Amen, 

"yilE Peace of God, which passeth all under- 
standing, keep your hearts and minds in the 
knowledge and love of God and of His Son 
Jesus Christ our Lord ; and the blessing of 
God Almighty, the Father, the Son and the 
Holy Ghost, be amongst you and remain with 
you always. Amen, 



I 



021 623 542 3 



